Crack cocaine is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant derived from powdered cocaine using a simple conversion process. It produces an immediate high and, because it is easy and inexpensive to produce, is readily available and affordable. It is made by dissolving powdered cocaine in a mixture of water and ammonia or baking soda, which is then boiled until a white or off-white solid substance forms. This solid (now crack cocaine) is then removed from the liquid, dried, and broken into chunks (rocks) for distribution.

Crack is nearly always smoked, a delivery system that sends large quantities of the drug to the lungs, producing an immediate and intense euphoric effect.

Statistics indicate that crack cocaine has few if any boundaries. Abusers can be found in people across every demographic with data showing that over six million residents of the U.S. have tried crack cocaine at least once. Almost one and a quarter million of them are in the twelve to twenty-five age groups, and almost four percent of high school seniors have used the drug at least once.